Basingstoke to Dakar

The Rosso and Mauritania photos.

Leaving Zebrabar with a heavy heart, because the place is so great and because of where I was heading.





I never got a picture of the bike with a Dakar city sign, so this will have to do.





And the approach to the infamous place...





A warning to all, not to treat the Mauritanian desert lightly.





My sleeping quarters in the Mauritanian desert.





Dawn arrives in the desert.





Mauratania, wonderful shapes created by wind and sand.





Parked up in the Hotel Barbas, 85km north of the Mauritania border. Big hotel sign, easy to spot.


 
Great read and good memories of a trip to the Gambia a few of us did in 2010, it seems the requirement for fiche's has risen in the intervening years as I got back home with most of mine. You also faired pretty well with the Senagalise police, we were stopped and fined for "speeding" a few times, twice within 1000mtrs of entering the country. !!!
 
Great read Jim, we are looking forward to the tales of the homeward stretch.
I am guessing that you will feel more comfortable now that you are back on 'familiar' ground in Morocco ...
Stay safe, be well.
G
 
Western Sahara, Hotel Barbas to Laayonne

While having a coffee in the Hotel Barbas I heard the sound of big bike engines. Suddenly 3 riders came into the reception area and parked around my bike. They were 2 KTM's and an Africa Twin, 2 Italian registered and one French. I gave the guys a minute and wandered over. They were heading south, meeting a guide at the border and planning to ride the national park in Mauritania, from*Nouadhibou*to*Nouakchott. This was an offroad ride and clearly they were quite competent and skilled and had the right bikes. After that they hoped to go to Senegal and down to Dakar. We discussed borders and they were hoping to use Diama and not Rosso. They believed Diama would be open to bikers who had all the correct papers. After hearing my Rosso stories they were more determined to use Diama. I met the guys again in the morning and we swapped stories and exchanged contact information, took photos etc. They had had a few technical peoblems and were impressed at how the local mechanics had fixed the problem. One mechanic manufactured a brake pad for the KTM out of a larger one with a tile cutter and a drill. It worked fine. The africa twin rider broke 4 spokes in his wheel and was lucky to find a mechanis with a spare wheel which he was able to modify to suit. They headed off south and I north. I was aiming for a campsite/windsurfing place on the approach to Dakhla. The distance was just over 250km so not a heavy day. I did have a side/head wind and was also surprised that the temperature was more moderate than I had been getting, it stayed below 30C, a good temperature for riding.*


I arrived at the site and was impressed with the setup. It was not too cheap, 40€ for a cabin without a bathroom but included 2 meals. The cabin was clean and had an amazing view. The club looks out on a stunning bay, which was busy with people wind and kite surfing, the customers of the resort. The club, Ocean Vagabond, has a nice bar/resturant and good wifi, and a realistic option for bikers passing, who do not want to go into Dakhla itself. The people were very welcoming and interested to know about the biker who had arrived. I spend a very pleasant evening chatting and later watching the local staff entertaining themselves and us with drums, electric violin, singing and dancing. The beer was good too.


Next morning after a good breakfast I was back on the road north. Initally with a head wind but later I picked up a tail wind. The tempersture as I left the club was only 15C. This was going to be a longish day, just over 500km through the desert to Laayonne. The road surface was good and I was keeping up good speed. Not too many checkpoints but they were thorough, asking where I had been and checking the fiche carefully. The route was often close to the sea and travelling this way it seemed more visible than when I was going south. It was a deep blue. I also noticed clouds on the horizon and wondered if the weather was going to change, having had unbroken sunshine for a month. The clouds seemed to ease as I continued north but the temperature remained moderate, again good conditons for riding.*


One thing I noticed with the tail and head wind was the different impact on me meeting a truck. If the wind was a headwind meeting a truck had little impact on the bike. However if I had a tailwind then I was buffeted severly by trucks that I met and had to take care as this road is not too wide. There were some camels around and ocassionally they wandered onto the road. All in all it was an uneventful 500km in the Sahara and that suited me fine. I arrived at Laayonne before 4:30 and checked into the Hotel Nagir, which I had used on the way down. I was also able to get to a bank, the first I had seen since entering Morocco 830km's ago and replenish the wallet. Later I went to a local resturant and had an excellent half chicken cooked on a wood barbecue.*


For those reading some of the earlier updates this may seem unexciting and a bit flat. But for me this is perfect, I'm not looking for any further unnecessary excitement on this return leg, but we will see what will happen. Still 500km of desert to go.
 
Western Sahara, Hotel Barbas to Laayonne - Photos

A sense of what this desert road is like. On the ride up to Dakhla there is a stretch of 100 miles without a service station, and while riding this bit, I was not overtaken nor did I overtake another vehicle.





Of course I passed this again heading north.





The sea close to the road.





A view over to the Dakhla peninsula, *with the city just visible.




On the Dakhla peninsula a man with 3 camels.





Not a bad view from a chalet





The chalet.*





Bike park at Dakhla





A further view from the Dakhla club




Clouds on the horizon riding up to Laayonne.





It can be a bit of a shock to come to a corner.


 
Thanks for the comments guys. Good to know others apart from my family are reading this.

One of my aims for this ride was to be out of my comfort zone at times and this trip exceeded that objective more than I had expected.
 
I am still enjoying your trip:thumb2. Did my first long haul as a solo this year
And it was GOOD. Quite different to group trips, ( which are also good)
Steady away :thumb2
 
Laayoune to Agadir

I woke to a change to the weather in Laayoune. As I looked out of the window I could see low cloud or fog. After almost a month in sunshine this was a shock. The streets were damp and I thought there may have been rain. I had 300km to do today and did not fancy it in fog or damp roads, after so long a dry spell. Well I'd see how it was after breakfast and take it from there. I did a few errands after breakfast, water and a visit to the pharmacy. After 4 weeks in heavy boots in hot conditons my feet and toes were suffering. Back at the hotel the sun had come out but it was 11:00 before I left. The day started with a headwind which turned to a side wind and became strong. It was picking up sand and blowing it across the road. Of course I had to lean into the wind as I didn't want to be blown across the road too. In a few places, near corners the sand was depositing on the road. I had thought before setting off on the trip, that I would like to experience a sandstorm in the desert. Well this was not a sandstorm but I'm glad it did not get any worse. There were some corners on this stretch and it's not much fun to come around a corner, leaning over, and find your path was covered in sand. As the ride progressed the wind turned to be a tail wind and I wissed along. A throttle setting that would have given me 85km/h was now doing 100km/h, good for fuel economy too. Stopping for petrol about half way I was amused to see the forecourt invaded by goats and the staff chasing them away.

In the end I got to TanTan plage mid afternoon and wondered if I should have gone further, but I was tired and happy to park the bike and have a rest. One thing to know about Tan Tan Plage is it has a sardine canning factory and when it is operating the smell is pretty foul if you are down wind. I didn't notice it when I stayed before but could smell it as I approached this time. I had decided that if the smell was around the hotel I would decline and go on further. The wind was keeping the smell away from the hotel when I arrived, but later it changed around and I could smell it as I went down to dinner.


I stayed at this hotel on the way down as it is cheap and OK as a stop over. In fact they seemed to have tried to improve, the room was cleaner and the wifi worked better. They got the price right this time in Booking.com. Last time it was 20€ for a room and breakfast but they challenged this when I arrived. I had the copy and they agreed. This time it was 23€ for the same, which was OK. The guy on reception said he had to pay the difference last time, I assume he had updated Booking.com incorrectly. I*took a rest once I'd unloaded the bike. The cumulative effort of the ride and the stress of the borders up from Senegal was telling. In addition the change in temperature, it was cool today, had given me a cold which did not help my energy levels.*


After a rest and before dark I thought I'd give the bike a quick check. I'd noticed that the chain was not as correct as when I set off and needed slight adjustment. I put the spanner on the aluminium wheel nut and it would not budge. The spanner is not too long and I didn't have a way of extending it so not too much leverage. I had done the nut up myself before I left with this spanner so it should loosen, and then I remembered the guys at Agadir had replaced the tyre and probably did the nut up with an air gun. This was all going around in my head till I readjusted the spanner, stood on it and it turned, panic over. I had fitted a new chain and sprockets (the pointy wheels that chains run on, for the non bikers or shaft drive riders, reading this) and checked adjustment before leaving. The adjustment had not varied and had not needed changing till now. When I did the adjustment it only needed 2 flats of the adjusting screw, a tiny amount, for over 4,500 miles, much of it desert. Am impressed with the quality of modern chains and the smoothness of the bikes power delivery. In the days when I rode a BSA bantam in the 70's chain adjustment was a weekly event. As well as the chain I topped up the oil. It has used about 0.3l on the trip, and the 0.4l I took with me should get us home.


In the evening I went down to the bar and had an omelette and salad and joined the locals watching football, the African cup of nations qualifiers. It was a game between Egypt and Tunisia, *full of commitment, which Tunisia won against the odds.*Next morning, the breakfast was a further improvement with fresh orange juice. The staff were interested in the bike and my travels and wanted photos around the bike and even on it. Being a glutton for admiration, I obliged.


The route today was about 370km to Agadir. I was only counting 170 of this as desert as Guelmim is traditionally known as the Gateway to the Sahara. *The last bit of desert went smoothly and I stopped at Guelmim for a coffee and to reflect on crossing the Sahara twice. Now when planning this trip I realised it was a circular trip and I would have to return. But the focus was on getting to Dakar, the title says "Basingstoke to Dakar", it does not say "Basingstoke to Dakar and Return" I think it was only when I arrived in Senegal, having just gone through Rosso, that it sunk in that I had only gone half way and would need to cross the desert again. And of course going down I had a freshly serviced bike, running like a dream and was not concerned it would have a problem in the desert. By the time I started the return the poor bike had suffered the Senegal roads, Mauritanian fuel and was not starting as briskly as earlier. On the way down I had the welcome company of the Irish Land Cruiser lads for some of the desert but they were back in Morocco now, and I'd be doing the Sahara on my own this time. All these factors increased my anxiety for the return trip, so sitting in Guelmim, drinking my coffee, I was both relieved and a little pleased with myself.


Anyway I was less than half way to Agadir so on I went. The landscape north of Guelmim was initially desert too but I could see some hills in the distance. *Once the road got to the hills it became a road over a mountain pass with sharp corners and as if rewarded for our efforfs on straight desert roads the bike and I were enjoyed with some great corners. The bike may have remembered how to get around corners but I had to ease my way in, it had been so long. Soon though, we were bombing along, testing different parts of the tyres as we swung through the corners, me with a grin on my face. This part was fun but we stayed in the hills for some time more and showers appeared in front of me. Then it began to spit rain and I noticed the road was wet in places. This made the decent on the twisty road more of a challenge. There was a definite black line on this road, where oil would drop from vehicles and with the dampness it gleamed. I was giving it a wary eye as I cornered as I suspect after the long dry spell this black line could be slippery. I was doing fine till a during the decent a right hand corner tightened up on me and as luck would have it there was a car coming the other way who did not fell the need to keep to his side of the white line. It was a tight squeeze on this slipppery road. Now I, like a lot of motorcyclists, believe I have 9 lives, if a cat can have 9 why not me. Well I'm not saying that the incident on the corner used up one of the lives but I suspect when the *"9 lives comittee" reviews recent events this corner will be under consideration. Ironic that after leaving the desert I should have my first near miss.


The sky was darkening as I approached Agadir and the temperature was no warmer. I'd stopped to put on my goretex liner but I had not really put on enough clothes to keep warm and arrived in Agadir quite chilly. I stayed again at the Atlantic hotel and parked the bike outside the front door so the guardian could keep an eye on it. It was the same guy as when I'd stayed on the way down and he was interested to know where I had been. Once I had rested a bit I went in search of a barber. My trim beard was now quite scruffy and needed some attention, either that or I should buy a bedber headscarf and fully look the part. My beard got trimmed and so did my hair and I left the shop a lot lighter.


There was a heavy thunderstorm in Agadir the night I arrived and I decided to rest up another night before going on to Marrakesh where I will stay for a few days and hopefully clear up this cold before heading home.*


I don't plan significant updates to this now, maybe a few photos, until I return home. Thanks for the interest and sharing the trip.
 
Laayoune to Agadir - Photos

After 1000's of km of straight roads we had some corners to enjoy.





Dont try this at home, but always fun to overtake a truck on a corner when you have good visibility.





Bike and owner at Guelmim after completing the 2nd Sahara crossing.





These kids were keeping pace with me in Guelmim, and admiring the bike so I pointed at my headcam and encouraged them to go in front for a photo.





This photo is at an angle but it shows the sand encroaching on the road during the strong winds.





I'm glad these two were distracted eating the palm tree as I slipped past. Just outside Tiznit.





A different sky, rain showers in the distance.





Arriving in Agadir this shop was near the hotel, and as Le Vache qui Rit is the staple cheese in the counyries I visited, it warrants inclusion.





The cloudy skies and empty beach at Agadir are very different to the scenes I saw 4 weeks ago.





Who needs a broom when there is a palm branch handy. Seemed quite effective too.


 
Hi there Jim,

Thanks for sending me the link to this report.

It's been great to read about Agadir, Guelmin, etc. as we travelled there 20 years ago in an old Renault 4 - Mrs S had been studying the traditional farming there and I joined her for a jolly, basing ourselves at Tafraoute where her studies centred, then down to Sidi Ifni, Guelmin, over the Atlas for a night south of Marakesh and ending up at Taroudant before heading back to Agadir :)

At home here in Tarragona we know lots of Moroccans and they're amazed that we'd been to such places - mostly they say that the world ends at Tiznit :clap

This is one of the very few ride reports I've seen that makes me want to go back

So it's a shame we're not meeting at my place in the Pyrenees after all as we could have had some good chat . . . and share experiences of touring with an X-Country :)

Simon
 
Again thanks for comments. I had planned a quiet few days in Marrakesh after Agadir, but has not quite woeked out that way, partly because of the inclement weather. It's been mostly raining. There have been a few other issues whill cover in the wrap up.

Yes Simon, thanks again for the kind offer and hopefully we'll get a chance to catch up some time in the future and have that chat. I've been thinking of a Pyreneean bike trip for a while. This time particularly with this wet weather I'm very happy to be going back from Santander and not riding through France.

Just a comment on the weather here in Morocco, while it has been inconvenient for me here in a Riad in Marrakesh, it is a lot worse out in the country where roads are flooded or washed away. Some riders are stranded in towns cut off. I'll be sticking to main roads on my way north.
 
I hope the weather improves for you Jim, it is mixed here too at present and a bit colder than you have been used to over the past weeks, so brace yourself mate.
Looking forward to a pint and natter upon your safe return.
Cheers, stay upright.
G
 
Great RR and photos of what looks like a real Adventure :thumb2
 
Really enjoying following this report. The X Country seems to cope with this type of travel really well.
 
Yes Simon, thanks again for the kind offer and hopefully we'll get a chance to catch up some time in the future and have that chat. I've been thinking of a Pyreneean bike trip for a while. This time particularly with this wet weather I'm very happy to be going back from Santander and not riding through France.

Well it's pretty miserable here too now . . .

Regarding the Pyrenees - there's always my HISS rally in the second week of September - plenty of old Morocco hand s there too :)

I can recommend a guest house in the Picos, near Potes, unless you'd prefer to snuggle in somewhere close to the ferry!

Regs

Simon
 
Leaving Africa.

Sitting on Tangier Med ferry for Spain. The African part of adventure is over. There is a Marrakesh tale to tell and I'll do an update when I'm back, and sort out some photos. Too early to reflect on it all but lots of great memories.

Thanks for the interest and I hope you are planning an adventure of your own, what ever it be.
 


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